Securities and Exchange Commission

Brendan Hoffman/Bloomberg

News about Securities and Exchange Commission, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Jun. 30, 2015

Securities and Exchange Commission accuses Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company of breaching fiduciary duty by passing on over $17 million in so-called broken deal expenses to investors; action is first of its kind by SEC and seems to lay groundwork for similar cases in near future; KKR has agreed to pay $30 million for breach amid increased scrutiny in private equity sector. MORE

Jun. 28, 2015

Gretchen Morgenson Fair Game column examines criticism in financial world of Security and Exchange Commission's push to try more cases in its internal administrative courts; argues that while courts are more efficient, their uses raises questions of fairness, not only because they lack important procedural powers, but also because they have far higher conviction rate than SEC cases tried in federal courts. MORE

Jun. 6, 2015

Securities and Exchange Commission files civil charges against eight former Computer Sciences Corporation employees and executives, and fines firm $190 million for manipulation of financial results; SEC infighting at highest level had threatened to derail the accounting fraud case. MORE

Jun. 5, 2015

Securities and Exchange Commission files suit against Bulgarian man Nedko Nedev, accusing him of misusing federal database to submit false takeover bids for Avon Products and Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory; Nedev had taken position in both companies. MORE

Jun. 3, 2015

Massachusetts Sen Elizabeth Warren sends lengthy and highly critical letter to Securities and Exchange Commission chairwoman Mary Jo White, saying she has failed to reign in executive pay and force admissions of wrongdoing during her two-year tenure; also takes issue with repeated recusals on White's part in SEC matters due to potential conflict of interest with her husband's law firm. MORE

Jun. 3, 2015

Securities and Exchange Commission will examine possible antitrust issues with Cinemark Holdings, Regal Entertainment Group and AMC Entertainment, which together control about 42 percent of nation's movie theaters; smaller companies have accused giants of using market clout to prevent them from screening same movies. MORE

May. 29, 2015

Internecine political battles have repeatedly disrupted Security and Exchange Commission's accounting fraud case against Computer Sciences Corp; terms of settlement have been upended several times as commission's two Democrats clash with two Republicans who are loath to levy big corporate fines; chairwoman Mary Jo White, who would usually cast deciding vote, has recused herself due to personal ties. MORE

May. 27, 2015

Deutsche Bank agrees to pay $55 million to Securities and Exchange Commission to settle claims that it overstated value of multibillion-dollar derivatives portfolio at height of financial crisis; admits no wrongdoing. MORE

May. 16, 2015

Editorial contends ruling against banks Nomura Holdings of Japan and Royal Bank of Scotland in housing bubble-related case brought by housing finance agency raises question of why Justice Dept and SEC have not done more to expose wrongdoing by Wall Street banks; holds settlements demanded by Justice Dept and SEC let banks, most of which remain unnamed, escape accountability. MORE

May. 16, 2015

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, small candy retailer based in Colorado, was target of fake buyout offer in 2012 from stock manipulator who gained access to Securities and Exchange Commission database; case parallels similar current situation involving Avon Products. MORE

Apr. 30, 2015

Securities and Exchange Commission proposes rules requiring American companies to provide shareholders with standardized metrics in publicly filed annual proxy statements, allowing a comparison between company returns and executive compensation. MORE

Apr. 17, 2015

David Makol, FBI agent who made name for himself investigating insider trading, returns to the Securities and Exchange Commission as a forensic accountant in its market-abuse unit. MORE

Apr. 15, 2015

Federal judge approves unusual resolution in case brought by Securities and Exchange Commission against former Freddie Mac executives, under which all parties agree to forgo further litigation; deal will yield modest payments to Freddie Mac investors and impose limited restrictions on former executives Richard F Syron, Patricia L Cook and Donald J Bisenius; marks underwhelming close to case many hoped would bring public catharsis in wake of financial crisis. MORE

Apr. 5, 2015

Gretchen Morgenson Fair Game column observes that compensation for defrauded investors obtained by class action lawsuits far outpaces that obtained by the Securities and Exchange Commission, raising issues of effectiveness; calls on Congress to consider expanding amount that SEC can extract in penalties. MORE

Apr. 2, 2015

Securities and Exchange Commission announces KBR will pay $130,000 fine for forcing employees to sign confidentiality agreements that stifle potential whistle-blowers; it is first action against a company agency has taken in its push to escalate enforcement of whistle-blower protections. MORE

Mar. 31, 2015

Securities and Exchange Commission accuses Lynn Tilton and her company Patriarch Partners of defrauding investors by hiding poor performance of distressed companies' assets she managed for them. MORE

Mar. 28, 2015

Editorial criticizes bipartisan failure to press Securities and Exchange Commission Chairwoman Mary Jo White on issue of campaign spending during congressional hearing; holds silence shows how much both parties are coming to rely on dark money and to undervalue transparency; contends shareholders deserve to know how corporate dollars are spent and need for disclosure will only grow; urges Pres Obama to issue executive order requiring disclosure. MORE

Mar. 27, 2015

DealBook Online; Omega Advisors, Leon G Cooperman's $9 billion hedge fund, is subpoenaed by Securities and Exchange Commission and United States attorney's office in New Jersey. MORE

Mar. 24, 2015

New legislation will make it more difficult for lawbreaking companies to get important Securities and Exchange Commission privileges that aid them in raising money in markets. MORE

Mar. 20, 2015

Mar. 18, 2015

Securities and Exchange Commission chairwoman Mary Jo White announces that she will explore setting higher standards for brokers in dispensing investment advice; support of so-called uniform fiduciary duty puts White and her agency in the middle of potential battle between Obama administration and the financial industry. MORE

Mar. 15, 2015

Gretchen Morgenson Fair Game column examines how Securities and Exchange Commission has implemented 2013 policy of trying to secure admissions of culpability from companies and individuals; observes that critics have raised concerns about criteria used to select cases where admission of culpability will be sought, saying that they are too broad. MORE

Feb. 25, 2015

Goodyear agrees to $16 million settlement with Securities and Exchange Commission over charges it violated federal antibribery laws; neither denies nor admits wrongdoing in case related to sales by its subsidiaries in Kenya and Angola. MORE

Feb. 24, 2015

Lawyers and legal records reveal how Securities and Exchange Commission Dir Mary Jo White's marriage to her lawyer husband John will affect her ability to pursue investigations; White will stop having to recuse herself from cases involving her former private sector clients in April, but ethics rules dictate that she will still have to sit out cases involving her husband's firm, Cravath, Swaine & Moore, which may create party-line stalemate on SEC. MORE

Jan. 20, 2015

Securities and Exchange Commission is reviewing rule used to block shareholder scrutiny of corporate policy, potentially clearing way for investors to challenge corporations; review is related to ruling on Whole Foods Market but is likely to have broader effects. MORE

Jan. 4, 2015

Gretchen Morgenson Fair Game column examines Security and Exchange Commission's decision to allow Whole Foods to exclude shareholder proposal on director nominations; notes that action prompted 10 other companies to ask for similar treatment, and will likely play a prominent role in the 2015 proxy season; observes that decision comes amid push by some shareholders to gain nomination rights. MORE

Dec. 23, 2014

An agreement to sell Biomet, a medical device maker, to Zimmer Holdings for $13.35 billion may be complicated by reports that Biomet helped bribe officials in Mexico and Brazil. MORE

Nov. 9, 2014

Gretchen Morgenson Fair Game column observes that Securities and Exchange Commission has yet to draft rule governing clawbacks of executive pay four years after it was mandated to do so by the Dodd-Frank law; notes that as a result compensation recovery has become all too rare. MORE

Nov. 7, 2014

Op-Ed article by Joseph S Fichera, chief executive of financial advisory firm Saber Partners, contends financial penalties levied by Securities and Exchange Commission and other federal regulators against banks are no longer an effective deterrent; calls on SEC to adopt system similar to that of the Dept of Motor Vehicles, which uses points to leverage its authority to get better behavior. MORE

Oct. 30, 2014

Editorial contends that investors do not know how the cash from companies they invest in is being spent on campaigns, and that the Securities and Exchange Commission should require disclosure; says SEC has longstanding reluctance to issue strong rules on investor rights and protections. MORE

Oct. 5, 2014

Gretchen Morgenson Fair Game column examines issues of market fairness raised by study on Securities and Exchange Commission comment letters, which alert companies to potential investigations into their finances; notes that study found a high incidence of executives dumping shares before other investors knew that the SEC was poking around; argues that while it is technically legal, practice amounts to insider trading and should be eliminated. MORE

Sep. 30, 2014

In an apparent first for the S.E.C., the agency built the case on the premise that a hedge fund’s private investment playbook amounted to inside information. MORE

Sep. 27, 2014

Paul Sullivan Wealth Matters column; Securities and Exchange Commission is considering new guidelines that investors fear will shrink pool of private investors and unfairly limit investment opportunities for millions of people; intent of guidelines is to protect less sophisticated investors from making private investments. MORE

Sep. 26, 2014

Judge rules that Texas tycoon Samuel Wyly and estate of his late brother Charles must pay hundreds of millions of dollars to the Securities and Exchange Commission for fraudulent offshore scheme; penalty is one of the largest ever imposed on individual defendants. MORE

Sep. 4, 2014

Editorial cautions that two rules issued by Securities and Exchange Commission to overhaul credit rating flaws that precipitated financial crisis fall short of reforms required to avert future problems; holds SEC's choice to enact incremental rather than large-scale reforms will result in the preservation of systemic conflicts and loopholes. MORE

Jul. 27, 2014

Private equity firms like Blackstone and Bain Capital have made huge profits on deals in which they essentially acted as investment banks, taking companies private, advising them on mergers, issuing debt, restructuring and other issues; key difference is that unlike investment banks, private equity firms are not subject to strict oversight by the Securities and Exchange Commission via 'broker-dealer' regulations; issue reflects internal debate at the SEC that could have costly implications for private equity firms if rules are clarified. MORE

Jul. 3, 2014

Editorial asserts new Securities and Exchange Commission rule to regulate derivatives is too narrow in scope; says American taxpayers and financial system remain exposed to ravages of unregulated derivatives trading. MORE

Jun. 30, 2014

Editorial holds House of Representatives' attempt to block Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into reported insider trading poses important test of government's ability to enforce Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act passed in 2012; contends investigation must be pursued if Stock Act is to be credible tool against corruption; urges federal judge to stand by commission and House to embrace law if it wishes to avoid accusations of hypocrisy. MORE

Jun. 25, 2014

Lorin L. Reisner, who helped overhaul the S.E.C.’s enforcement unit before heading the criminal division of the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan, is expected to join a law firm. MORE

Jun. 24, 2014

Dov Charney, founder and chief executive of American Apparel who was ousted by board, files notice with Securities and Exchange Commission stating that he will make an effort to seek reinstatement. MORE

Jun. 20, 2014

Mary Jo White said on Friday that she had asked the S.E.C. to enhance transparency in a sector of Wall Street where middlemen may now have an advantage over investors. MORE

Jun. 20, 2014

Securities and Exchange Commission and Justice Department subpoena Rep David Camp, Republican of Michigan and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, as part of insider trading investigation into Height Securities; research company correctly predicted change in government health care policy in 2013, prompting a surge in stock prices of health insurance companies. MORE

Jun. 14, 2014

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says it is under investigation by Securities and Exchange Commission, adding to series of inquiries that have been ordered since lane-closing scandal at George Washington Bridge; probe will reportedly focus in part on the agency’s handling of roadway construction projects. MORE

Jun. 14, 2014

James B Stewart Common Sense column on reversal by Court of Appeals for Second Circuit in New York on Judge Jed S Rakoff's 2011 decision to reject proposed $285 million settlement between Securities and Exchange Commission and Citigroup; says opinion is brief, but sweeping in its implications, alarming wide swath of lawyers who specialize in securities litigation. MORE

Jun. 13, 2014

Floyd Norris High & Low Finance column notes that while the United States is unlikely to convert to international accounting rules in the foreseeable future, recent developments suggest that some domestic companies will be allowed to convert to such rules if they wish; cites comments by new SEC chairwoman Mary Jo White and former chairman Chris Cox. MORE

Jun. 4, 2014

A federal appeals court chastised Judge Jed S. Rakoff’s decision to reject a federal settlement deal with Citigroup, undercutting his concerns that the bank got off with little more than a slap on the wrist. MORE

May. 27, 2014

The Securities and Exchange Commission is caught trying to control too much information and monitoring information it can’t even see or hear. MORE

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